claims top GP The NHS has been left “in distress”

NHS left 'in distress' by health reforms, claims top GP The NHS has been left “in distress” by “the mother of all top-down reorganisations”, Britain’s top GP claimed today. 

 

Dr Clare Gerada, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said the Health and Social Care Bill had only passed into law after “a thousand amendments - longer than a Tolstoy novel”.

The controversial bill received Royal Assent in March, but only after a turbulent passage through Parliament.

Most of the medical royal colleges ended up opposing it, concerned over structural changes they said could destabilise the NHS, and sections that make it easier for private firms to provide healthcare.

Speaking to 2,000 GPs who have gathered in Glasgow for their annual conference, Dr Gerada said doctors were "in turmoil" a year ago.

She said: "In England, we were in the midst of the Health and Social Care Bill - and, despite assurances to the contrary, the NHS is experiencing the mother of all top-down reorganisations. In fact, the most radical in its 60-year history.

"A bill qualified by a thousand amendments - longer than a Tolstoy novel - rushed through at breakneck speed.

"And, as a result, our NHS is in distress. And so too, are many of us."

Dr Gerada has never hidden her opposition to large tracts of the bill, and has on occasion been criticised for being too politically partisan. She subsequently toned down her criticism of the bill.

But in today’s speech she made clear again that she did not agree with the bulk of the reforms, implying that they put at risk the soul of the NHS.

She told her colleagues: “We GPs will always make the system work for our patients. But we will never compromise the founding values of our NHS. 

"And each of us must continue to play our part in raising concerns wherever we see inequalities and unfairness in our health system.

"We'll show courage, just as our forefathers did as they rose to the extraordinary challenges posed by post-war austerity and the uncertainties of the new NHS." 

Despite the challenges facing today’s GPs, she urged family doctors “to embrace our future with optimism and confidence”.

The Department of Health declined to attack Dr Gerada’s speech, with a spokesman opting instead to find common ground with her.

She said: “"Local doctors are the right people to lead the NHS. They will make this system work and make sure the is NHS locally led. 

"They know what their local health and care issues are and will ensure patients are treated as individuals - with dignity and respect - improving services and the quality of care.